So the word is that the Mets have made offers to Jason Bay and Bengie Molina. I like the offer to Jason Bay. He had big numbers in 2009 with 36 homers and 119 RBI. The year before he hit 31 homers with 101 RBI. And he's only 31.

The New York Post is reporting that although David Wright is a big fan, the Mets will not be pursuing Manny Ramirez to play left field this season.

Now that the pursuit of Derek Lowe is over it's time to focus on Ollie Perez. Word is that Lowe will get $60 million over 4 years with the Braves.

The New York Post says:

"The Atlanta Braves were closing in on a $60 million, four-year deal with Lowe, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. That is way above the last reported offer from the Mets, which was for three years, $36 million."

There's always Randy Wolf. I think I'd rather have Ollie (as nutty and unreliable as he is) back for 2009. How about you?

The Mets have made an offer to Derek Lowe. At 3 years and $36 million it's quite a bit lower than $75 million over 5 years that Lowe and his agent Scott Boras hoped to get.

The New York Post reports:

"Lowe is the Mets' first choice for the glaring hole in their rotation, with Oliver Perez Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf still possibilities if a deal can't be struck with Lowe. A Mets official termed it unlikely that the team would sign more than one starter from the group that includes Lowe, Perez and Wolf."

Does it seem like a lose-lose situation when it comes to the Mets spending money? If they don't spend enough, they're cheap. If they spend a lot of money, they're attacked as trying to be like the Yankees and/or buying a pennant. They're being big market bullies. If they spend a lot of money and the Yankees still spend $20 million more, they're trying to do it on the cheap and not making the commitment to winning. There's never any accountability for what did you get for the money you spent. MLB is never going to love the Mets because they can never have a $40 million payroll and make the playoffs like Tampa Bay or Minnesota.